After a 2500NM, nearly windless, trip we finally arrived at Victoria on the island of Mahe, in the Seychelles Islands. When the wind finally came back it wasn't going to let us off easy and we were close hauled the last two days in what is supposed to be a dead downwind run. We arrived in the dark early morning hours, which seems to be our standard, and threaded our way through some small outer islands and rather large rocks using RADAR and GPS. We were instructed to anchor in the outside harbor and wait for customs to come. They showed up at about 9:30 that morning, very prompt by island standards. No less that 5 men from customs, quarantine, immigration and I don't know what else. We did the usual filling out of dozens of forms with lots of stamping by the officials. We were just about done with all the officials putting things away when one asked if I had a boat stamp and I pulled out my corporation embosser which had little to do with the boat and embossed his form. They were so impressed that all the other officials pulled their forms back out to have them stamped as well, they really love stamped forms. We were welcomed to the Seychelles and given a booklet on how to check out, a one to three day adventure involving more forms and offices but that is how it is on "island time". We decided to move into the very inner harbor, which is quite small but well protected and close to the Seychelles Yacht Club and town. The anchorage was crowded and all the boats were on short scopes in an area of very poor holding. It took us 5 tries and after dragging anchor several times we finally got a good hold on the bottom and settled in. It took my largest anchor and 100 meters of chain for a depth of only 7 meters.
Victoria is the largest town in the islands and comprises about 75% of the total population. It is definitely set up for tourists with lots of T-shirt and souvenir shops and is a popular European vacation destination. The people are very friendly but the greatest thing is the diversity of cultures, there are so many different peoples here it is hard to pick out a true Seychelles native. Three languages are standard, Creole, French and English so getting around and doing business is easy. The town is fairly easy to cover on foot; this is important since there are 6 food stores, none having everything you need so one ends up covering them all to do a complete shopping. It is interesting that the food stores devote ½ of their shelf space to food and the other ½ for cosmetics and children's games. What particular food may be available one day will not be available the next day so I learned to buy when and where the item was found. You can find most things if you are patient and are willing to keep looking. I eat out a lot here mainly because I am sick of cooking on the boat but also because the restaurants are fairly reasonable and the yacht club is even cheap. The monetary unit here is the Seychelle Rupee and the standard banks exchange at a favorable rate of 5:1 US. However if someone wants to venture to the edge of town to a certain Chinese restaurant and do a little passing of money under the table, the rate goes to 10:1. That makes a simple but great curry dinner at the yacht club cost between US$2.50 and 3.00, and if you go to town to a really nice restaurant the price escalates to $8.00, you can't afford to cook.
The days are very warm and everyone walks slowly always seeking the shady side of the street. Nights cool off nicely making the early morning and evening the best time of day and the time to get some boat work done. There is one Internet source with 6 machines that work most of the time. Phone connections are good and quite easy although a little pricey. There has been a lot of some country's money spent here on government and social service buildings, a very nice library and Seychelles Archives buildings. Many of the smaller shops are owned by Indians or Chinese and are called "General Merchants". They are filled with anything and everything all dusty and smelling of mildew. One shelf will have food, another lamps, hardware or clothing, you just don't know what you may find so they are interesting to walk through. I don't know how they make enough money to survive. Other shops are quite upscale with nice merchandise and prices to match. The people seem genuinely happy, industrious and dress in an affluent style, most all complain about the high cost of things but say it is worth it to live in paradise. Cellular phones are everywhere. One striking thing is the large number of baby clothes shops, I questioned whether there were that many children here but my question was answered when school let out at 3 PM. There are many children here, most of the Indian Ocean islands visited so far seemed to have very few at least that I was able to see. Some of this was due to having to send the grade school levels off to other islands for their education. Here, however, the children are very noticeable and generally well behaved. They all wear school uniforms, different for the various schools and are actually attractive. The girls always look well groomed and the boys a bit sloppy which seems universal. There is also a performing arts and artistic institute for high school grads but I don't know what if any degree may be conferred. They are trying to get certification for the first year of a technical college program so students may start here before having to travel to other countries for a full degree. The government reimburses parents for approximately 90% of off island college costs.
I enjoyed my time here, easy to get around, friendly helpful people and a nice climate if you don't mind sweating a little and getting rained on several times a day. Cheers, JACK
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